civil rights movement 1

Civil Rights Movement

American Studies, MA IISemester 1

Civil Rights Movement – Course 1

The context:

The Reconstruction Era (1865-1877):

The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 The Civil Rights Act of 1875 – outlawed discrimination

based on race in public accommodations (declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 1883)


Amendment 13 - Slavery Abolished. Ratified 12/6/1865

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights. Ratified 7/9/1868.

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.


Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote. Ratified 2/3/1870

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


1868-1901 – 22 elected black politicians served in Congress: the myth of “Negro domination”;

the failure of Reconstruction: the white aristocracy in the South retained political, economic, social and cultural control - white supremacy;

former slaves – no jobs, no economic means;

black codes, vagrancy laws, the Ku-Klux-Klan (lynchings), collapse of banks (the Freedman’s Bank);


the Compromise of 1877 (federal troops were removed from the South; the Democratic Party - the Redeemer - regained power);

Jim Crow Laws (beginning in the 1880s);

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) – Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation in public space under the doctrine of “separate, but equal”;


Definition: “Jim Crow laws were laws that imposed racial segregation. They existed mainly in the South and originated from the black codes that were enforced from 1865 to 1866 and from prewar segregation on railroad cars in northern cities. The laws sprouted up in the late nineteenth century after Reconstruction (1877) and lasted until the 1960s.”

(http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/jimcrowlaws/g/jimcrowlaws.htm)


Plessy vs Ferguson(http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/jimcrowlaw1/p/plessyvferguson.htm)

Facts: In 1890, Louisiana passed a law that required blacks to ride in

separate railroad cars. Homer Plessy, a shoemaker from Louisiana who was seven-eighths Caucasian, volunteered to test the constitutionality of the law. On June 7, 1892, Plessy boarded a train and sat in a car reserved for whites. He refused to move and was arrested. A local judge ruled against Plessy.

Decision: The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1896,

it upheld the lower courts ruling. It held that "separate but equal" accommodations did not violate Plessy's rights and that the law did not stamp the "colored race with a badge of inferiority." This decision paved the way for segregation.


“Racial separation became the rule in southern society when the Supreme Court upheld segregation in its Plessy vs. Ferguson decision in 1896. Segregation defined the region’s labor market, educational system, worship patterns, recreational activities, and sexual mores.” (Estes, 2005: 5)


Jim Crow Laws - exampleshttp://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/jimcrowlaws/a/jimcrowlaws.htm

Alabama Transportation All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor

transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races.

The conductor of each passenger train is authorized and required to assign each passenger to the car or the division of the car, when it is divided by a partition,

designated for the race to which such passenger belongs.


Public Facilities It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for

the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment.

It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other at any game of pool or billiards.

Every employer of white or negro males shall provide for such white or negro males reasonably accessible and separate toilet facilities.


Florida

Marriage/Cohabitation

All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited.

Any negro man and white woman, or any white man and negro woman, who are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the nighttime the same room shall each be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve 12 months, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.


MissouriEducation Separate free schools shall be established for the education

of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.

MississippiEducation Separate schools shall be maintained for the children of the

white and colored races.


North Carolina

Books

Books shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them.

The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place for the use of the colored people who may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals.


“For them [black men], any transgression in the white world might lead to lynching or castration for supposed sexual improprieties. ‘You couldn’t even smile at a white woman,’ a black man remembered. ‘If you did, you’d be hung from a limb.’ This terrifying period when the segregated social order became entrenched is often called the Jim Crow era, named after the character – really, a racist caricature of African American men – in blackface minstrel shows of the eighteenth century.” (Estes, 2005: 6)


The Scottsboro Boys

“In March 1931, nine black teenagers were arrested for the rape of two women despite a physical exam that showed that no rape had occurred. After years of trials, convictions, and successful appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, the last defendant was finally released in 1950.”

(http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/scottsboroboys/g/scottsboro.htm)


The 1940s:

the end of discrimination in employment in the defense industries;

the desegregation of the military.


“The impact of World War II on the nation's ideology cannot be understated. The war put white supremacy on the defensive through propaganda put forth by the United States in opposition to the Nazi regime and by means of official proclamations, such as the Atlantic Charter and the founding documents of the United Nations, which reaffirmed America's belief in the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence.


Despite segregation in the armed forces and racial violence at home, the overall message of the war effort was that proponents of racial supremacy were wrong and that America would prosper because of its faith in equality and freedom for all. The Holocaust, which revealed to the world the atrocities that could be committed by a people driven by the ideology of racial supremacy, strengthened the American public's belief in the ideal of equality for all and marginalized open advocates of white supremacy.” (Levy, 1998: 46)


“Like World War II, the Cold War gave a boost to the civil rights movement. As the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States heated up, the Soviets pointed to the "U.S. policy" of discriminating against minorities and used virtually every incident of violence toward or mistreatment of African Americans as a propaganda weapon to embarrass the United States and to win favor with the numerous developing, newly independent nations, many of which were nonwhite.


So fearful did the United States government grow of unfavorable foreign opinions that it stripped some prominent African Americans who were critical of U.S. foreign policy of the right to travel abroad, lest they confirm the Soviets' propaganda.” (Levy, 1998: 46-7)


Asa Philip Randolphhttp://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/aphiliprandolph/p/aphiliprandolph.htm

Dates: April 15, 1889 - May 16, 1979

Occupation: labor and civil rights leader

Also known as:

Prophet of the Civil Rights Movement


Randolph Fights for Pullman Porters

“Randolph eventually saw the need for organizing black workers. Because many affiliates of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) barred blacks from membership, in 1925, Randolph founded and served as President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The organization represented black porters who worked for the Pullman Company. Through the group, Randolph was able to secure a railroad contract with the Pullman Company in 1937.”

Civil Rights Movement – Course 1Randolph Challenges Discrimination Condoned by the

Federal Government

“After the successful negotiation with the Pullman Company, one year later, Randolph put pressure on President Franklin D. Roosevelt to end employment discrimination against blacks in the federal government. Randolph began organizing blacks to march on Washington in protest. On June 25, 1941, President Roosevelt responded by issuing Executive Order 8802, which barred discrimination in defense industries and established the Fair Employment Act.”

+ the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)


“Next, Randolph turned his attention to discrimination in the military. Randolph was successful again after he pushed for the banning of segregation in the military through his organization the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation. This time Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry Truman on July 26, 1948.”


National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/naacp/a/naacp.htm

“Organized by a group of black and white intellectuals, the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) came at a time when racial inequality was accepted in American society. Early on the NAACP attacked inequality in the courts, and received its greatest success with its victory in Brown v. Board of Education.”


“The NAACP was founded in New York City in 1909. It was formed by W.E.B. Du Bois, other members from the failed Niagara Movement, and several liberal whites. Du Bois served as Director of Publications and Research and was the editor of the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis, until 1934.”


“The NAACP made getting out the word about the inequality of African Americans its primary focus. It engaged in lobbying activities, spoke out about important issues affecting blacks, and publicized issues through the press. In addition to these activities, the NAACP extended its fight to the courts. In 1915, it attacked a grandfather clause that was used against black voters in the South and in 1927 it challenged an all-white primary, and won in both instances.”


“From 1930 to 1955, Walter White served as secretary. In 1939, the organization started the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Under the leadership of White the NAACP became a powerful force during the civil rights movement. In 1954, the NAACP’s legal council won a victory in Brown v. Board of Education when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that school segregation was unconstitutional.

The NAACP is still active in working toward equal rights, and in the 1970s it expanded its efforts around the world.”


Bayard Rustinhttp://afroamhistory.about.com/od/marchonwashington/a/marchonwash1963.htm

Dates: March 17, 1912 - August 24, 1987

Occupation: activist

“Bayard Rustin, most noted for his behind-the-scenes work with Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement, was more than an activist for racial equality. He was committed to economic justice, labor rights, and by the end of his life, he had taken on humanitarian causes.”


Rustin Works with the Communists

“In 1932, after Rustin graduated from high school, he moved to Ohio to attend Wilberforce University. As a tenor, he established himself as an asset to the Wilberforce Quartet, but after two years at the university, he decided to move on. He eventually landed in New York City in 1937. He attended City College of New York and worked as a backup singer. Rustin’s passion for equality, however, led him to the Young Communist League. It was a brief membership that ended when he discovered that the group’s commitment to the end of discrimination was overrode by other causes.”


Bayard Rustin Embraces Pacifism

“Rustin’s 1941 departure led him on a new path. He worked

briefly with labor leader A. Philip Randolph at the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, but decided instead to put his effort into the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), a peace organization. It was during this time that he became a pacifist. His study of Gandhi and his close working relationship with the organization’s leader, A.J. Muste, influenced his refusal to comply with the draft act. As a result, Rustin was sentenced to three years in federal prison.”


“Shortly after Rustin’s release from prison, he participated in the FOR and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sponsored freedom rides in 1947. The rides were designed to test the Supreme Court ruling desegregating interstate buses. Rustin’s participation resulted in his arrest and conviction. He was sentenced to thirty days on a chain gang.”


Rustin Joins the Civil Rights Movement

“In 1953, Rustin broke off with FOR after his well publicized arrest for homosexual lewd conduct threatened to harm the reputation of the organization. Two years later, when Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, Rustin began his mentorship of King on nonviolent resistance. Once the boycott ended, Rustin urged King to form an organization dedicated to civil rights; with the help of Rustin, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was created in 1957.”


“Rustin’s contribution to the civil rights movement was instrumental to its success. He was an adept organizer who was most noted for his management of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. His homosexual orientation, however, was at times a barrier. He was often forced to work behind-the-scenes with King and the SCLC.”


Boyd, H. 2004. We Shall Overcome! Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks.

Estes, S. 2005. I Am a Man! Race, Manhood and the Civil Rights Movement. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Levy, P.B. 1998. The Civil Rights Movement. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

http://afroamhistory.about.com/

civil rights movement 1

Spiritual

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united states

vagrancy laws

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prewar segregation